CGL’s JD Scholten, who is also an Iowa state representative, organized a letter from all 36 Iowa Democratic state lawmakers to the FTC and DOJ asking for a review of Koch Industries’ plans to purchase a fertilizer plant in the state.
Lawmakers are highlighting potential harm to workers from Koch Industries Inc.‘s $3.6 billion acquisition of a fertilizer plant, and calling upon the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department, and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) to examine how the purchase could further entrench Koch’s market power, posing the risk of not only higher fertilizer prices but also job losses.
Consolidation in agriculture is “squeezing farmers, it’s suppressing workers, and consumers are having to pay the most they ever have for groceries,” said Iowa State Rep. J.D. Scholten (D), who spearheaded a letter to the agencies on Feb. 5. “We as a society need to start judging some of these mergers.”